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[eagle]

Hi,

I've got most of the gear installed and everything seems to be running as desired.

Still in the process of understanding how X10 works.  In this quest, I thought I'd look at the Activity Monitor report.

This is a nice feature.  It allows one to analyze how the system is responding.  I appreciate seeing what kind of triggers are issued.  I surmised that Transmit is from AHP, RF is from the sensors, and Receive is from a transceiver.  Is that correct?   Also, I'm presuming that any responses with the module name/label is from the CM15A and any response with simply the House code is from the TM751.  Yes? No?

Looking at the report, I also noticed the following:

- There were a couple of instances during the test phase when sensors triggered house/unit codes that we aren't using.  Those codes haven't come up since.

- X1/X2 codes, however, seem to pop up multiple times.  I'm guessing they are related to the builder security system since the X1/X2 codes seem to toggle on and off at the time when we know we armed/disarmed the alarm.

- When eagle sensors are activated, it seems to send multiple ON signals and OFF signals.  Could that be because I have 2 TM751s plugged in I use to help receive RF signals from the sensors?  Might as well use them since I got them from sales packages and using them seem to help with the response from the modules.

- Only one device sharing the same address as other modules show up on the history report.  What I mean by this is that I have rooms in the house where I use multiple socket rockets for overhead lighting or lamps.  Instead of having individual addresses, I simply use one so that when an on signal is received, they all respond.  Simple enough in theory/practice and no need for smart macros.  For example, room 1 have 2 socket rockets at X5 and another set of socket rockets in an adjacent room set also to X5.  Each set are defined in AHP and work just fine.  The activity report however only shows one of them.  The 2nd set isn't recorded at all in the report.  Any thoughts?

Your words of wisdom would be appreciated.

r,
eagle

[dave w]

- When eagle sensors are activated, it seems to send multiple ON signals and OFF signals.  Could that be because I have 2 TM751s plugged in I use to help receive RF signals from the sensors?  Might as well use them since I got them from sales packages and using them seem to help with the response from the modules.

- Only one device sharing the same address as other modules show up on the history report.  What I mean by this is that I have rooms in the house where I use multiple socket rockets for overhead lighting or lamps.  Instead of having individual addresses, I simply use one so that when an on signal is received, they all respond.  Simple enough in theory/practice and no need for smart macros.  For example, room 1 have 2 socket rockets at X5 and another set of socket rockets in an adjacent room set also to X5.  Each set are defined in AHP and work just fine.  The activity report however only shows one of them.  The 2nd set isn't recorded at all in the report.  Any thoughts?

hi eagle,

1. You (generally) should not use more than one TM751 in a setup. The TM751s are "impolite", meaning they do not check for other X10 codes on the powerlines lines before transmitting on to the powerline a received X10 code. Hence with two TM751's, if they both receive a RF command from a remote or a motion sensor at the same time (they both received the same transmission) they will both blindly transmit the code to the powerlines and usually nothing gets through because of code collisions on the powerline. Not sure but you might be seeing a response from the TM751 first and then the second response log from the CM15A (which is polite and will wait until the powerline is "quiet" before transmitting its received code). 

2. If both sets of SR all use the same address, how would the CM15A differentiate between set one and set two? As far as CM15A is concerned, it is only turning ON (or OFF) only one Socket Rocket since you have them all addressed the same. It only (needs to) sends one command, even if you show multiple SR in different rooms in separate rooms on AHP one command turns them all ON so one command gets logged.

[Dan Lawrence]

If you need 2 transceivers, use the RR501 as it is "polite" and waits until the line is clear when transmuting. 

[eagle]

Thanks Dan and Dave.

Will pursue your suggestions.  I can't seem to find the RR501 to order though.

One more thing...

One transceiver seems to be misbehaving.

It gets triggered multiple times but nothing is causing it to trip.  It is located in the shade facing a sideyard that receives no traffic but is there to ensure perimeter coverage.

Did the unplug and replug exercise as mentioned in an X10 Wikipage.  It says that one of the problems with the TM751 is that is sometimes gets stuck when used with other TM751s.  Did the manual reset and it seems to be working okay again.  Will keep an eye on it.

r,
eagle

[eagle]

Well shoot.

I just came across a couple of good threads that might be a way for me to get rid of the TM751s.

And it's actually dave w's solution which extends the range of the sensor:

http://forums.x10.com/index.php?topic=10982.0

Another one is by tuicemen aka jeff volp:

http://jvde.us/x10/passive.pdf

Cool stuff. 

I'll give these a try. 

r,
eagle

[Dan Lawrence]

To get RR501s without going to X10's site, go to http://www.automatedoutlet.com/   They sell the RR501 not bundled with anything else, plus their shipping charge is a flat rate no matter how many things you buy.

[eagle]

Thanks Dan.

I'm not familiar with the x10 product history.

Was this the predecessor to the CM15A? 

I'm just wondering why x10 doesn't sell it anymore.

r,
eagle

[Brian H]

RR501 is the big brother of the TM751. Both are Transceivers. The RR501 is polite and tries not to step on power line signals. The TM751 has no power line receiver in it and blindly sends X10 signals when it receives them.

The predecessor of the CM15A interface was the CM11A Serial port Active Home [not Pro] interface.

[eagle]

Thanks Brian!

Since one has to order it from another vendor, is it a discontinued product that went south like the barking dog alarm?

r,
eagle

[Brian H]

Discontinued could be the case.
I still can find the X10Pro PAT01 model on some sites also
Also the RR501/PAT01 has a power line receiver in it and has a relay [appliance type] output. That can be controlled by a power line signal. Also has a choice of Unit Code 1 or 9.

[eagle]

- X1/X2 codes, however, seem to pop up multiple times.  I'm guessing they are related to the builder security system since the X1/X2 codes seem to toggle on and off at the time when we know we armed/disarmed the alarm.

I'm quoting myself. 

Anyway, I confirmed that the security system is indeed the cause for the the random codes being picked up by AHP.  When the builder security system is armed or disarmed, codes B1 and B2 are turned on, then turned off in reverse order.  We tried this a number of times and we'd see the codes pop up in real time.  I hope that isn't messing anything up.  I do know I have signal suckers I need to track down because a couple of modules "suddenly" are unresponsive and a couple of sensors are misbehaving.

The joys of home automation I suppose. 

r,
eagle